Thursday, 27 August 2015

Censorship of information has become quite commonplace all across the world. The developing countries and developed countries- both are using censorship in similar fashion to thwart the flow of information on the online medium. Censorship is even a greatest threat to the open channel communication on the internet. If data travels from the route, which passes by countries, which had placed censorship, then it is a cause of worry for data integrity.

A new system offers sublime internet routing features

Some computer scientists at the University Of Maryland have come up with a commendable solution of advanced internet routing method. A method has been developed which provides a concrete proof to the internet users so that their information does not cross through certain geographical areas, which possess censorship. The advantage of using of this new system is that it can be deployed immediately without wasting any time and it happens to be extremely easier to use and doesn’t require any special or extensive knowledge.

How this new internet routing method works?

This new system of internet routing has been named Alibi Routing and is expected to be presented in the upcoming event of Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group On Data Communications (ACM SIGCOMM) in London.

Information when transmitted over the internet in form of website requests or email content then it is broken into different packets and later on it is sent through a series of routers until it reaches its destination. Through the censoring of content, some parts of the world are known to actively engage in modifying the data, which is returned to the users. Alibi Routing uses an extensive peer-to-peer network in order to locate peers- who are running alibi routing software- and relay the user’s packets to the final destination through avoiding the forbidden regions. In this system a peer is termed as “alibi” whose work is to provide proof through calculations whether the information can relay fast at a particular time over a particular geographical location or not. Successful rates show that the information has reached successfully to its desired destination without traversing through the forbidden regions.

Users can use safety parameter in the Alibi Routing in order to get much better control over their data. If a safety parameter is set at larger then it will be hard to find an alibi but at smaller safety parameter alibi can be found easier. The safety parameter shows the user’s desired level confidence whether their data packets are safeguarded from travelling the forbidden regions or not.

Alibi Routing gives better control to users over their data
In the recent times, censorship of the internet traffic and information has resulted in the creation of suspicious boomerang routing. This routing makes it easier to monitor the data, which leaves a region to come back again, which is not at good for the end users. Computer scientists have developed the Alibi Routing system in a bid to empower the users to have better control over what happens with their data on the internet.

Saturday, 18 July 2015

Top Level Exhaustion ….. IPv4 Addresses Allocated for Special Use

When the internet was first developed, it was presumed that around 4 billion unique number combination would be adequate. However, it did not turn out the way it was predicted when tech pioneer Ken Olsen had stated in 1977 that `there is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home’.

With the internet it gave rise to more usage with users getting tech savvy and getting connected to the internet world. Each node of Internet Protocol – IP network like computer, router or a network printer has been assigned an IP address which is used in locating and identifying the node in communication with several other nodes on the internet. An IP address space is handled by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority – IANA, globally, as well as by the five regional Internet registries – RIR, that are responsible in their respective territories for tasks to end users and local internet registries like internet service providers.

Top level exhaustion took place on 31, January’2011. From the five RIRs, three have exhausted allocation of the blocks and have not reserved for IPv6 transition which took place on 15th April 2011 for Asia Pacific, while on 14th September 2012 for Europe and for Latin America and the Caribbean on 10th June 2014.Internet Protocol version 4 offers 4,294,967,296, addresses though large blocks of IPv4 addresses have been allocated for special uses and are not provided for public allocation.

ARIN unable to Fulfil Allocation of Large IPv4 Address Block

As per Gartner researchers, he states that there would be around 25 billion internet connected devices by 2020 which is more than six times to what the developers had planned when the net went live in 1983. Vint Cerf, the internet founding father clarifies that they were aware of this coming up and had been reading about the drying blocks of IPv4 addresses and for the first time North America has been out of the new IPv4 addresses.

Presently, Caribbean Islands, Canada, North Atlantic and US will be receiving the waiting list from the American Registry for Internet Numbers and has been cautioned that it will be unable to fulfill the allocation of a large IPv4 address block since the address pool has been drying and because of this the ARIN for the first time will be changing its policies on allocation. Though the infrastructure running the internet was made with space for 4 billion addresses, which had seemed a lot at that point of time, however with provision of too many devices coming up, the IPv4 protocol seems to be running out of space.

Initiated IPv4 Unmet Request Policy

American Registry for Internet Numbers, - ARIN, has now initiated its IPv4 Unmet Request Policy and till now, organizations in the ARIN area were in a position of getting IPv4 addressed whenever needed. However, recently, ARIN is now not in a position of fulfilling the requests resulting in ISP which come to ARIN for IPv4 address space are faced with three choices namely-

They could take a smaller block, presently ARIN does have a limited supply of blocks of 512 and 256 addresses

They could go on the wait list with the hope that a block of desired size would be available sometime in the near future.

They could buy addresses from an organization which may tend to have more than their requirement.

Experts have advised those running websites to use the spacious IPv6 specification, though moving could be expensive as well as time consuming. However, most of the large websites had already gone ahead and done so while several smaller ones could be left without much space to continue working. The IP address version which are now running out are utilised by computers in identifying themselves to each other in order to get connected. The old IP addresses comprised of four numbers with dots between them.

IPv6 Picking up Pace

Although being limited to four numbers meant that only 4 billion addresses were available and there are many more devices intending to get connected to the internet. IPv6 is picking up the pace and ARIN has been encouraging organizations in considering using IPv4 addresses.

Supply of IPv6 addresses is enough and is not likely to run out in future. By adopting a much more complex address, IPv6 would be increasing the minimum amount and it has space for 340 undecillion addresses or 340 followed by 36 zeroes, which is adequate for each atom on Earth to be accommodated with one. Those businesses who have not switched so far could move towards the new specification - IPv6.

Being expensive, companies could move towards hardware which would be compatible with IPv6. Should they decide to move over they could end up buying the limited and probably expensive IPv4 addresses that may be left. If users do not move over to the new system, they would not be able to get on the net since they will not have addresses to use and the internet would stop growing at that point. Experts had warned earlier that there were only 3.4 million addresses left in North America and that they would be running out in summer.

Tuesday, 18 November 2014

SpaceX has the unique ability of launching stuff’s into space very cheaply and now Elon Musk is ready to capitalize on the same ability. Musk has announced that at present he is working on deployment of a constellation, which will comprise of nearly 700 satellites with the aim of bringing cheap internet access to every person around the world. According to Musk, in terms of finance and ideology, he is more attracted to under connected part of the world like Asia, South America, and Africa but he also agrees to that, the same satellite based internet can be very useful to many rural areas of Europe and North America.

According to the reports released by the Wall Street Journal a few days ago, Musk was also working along with WorldVu on a satellite internet startup, which has slunk out of covertness over the couple of months. Greg Wyler is the person who founded WorldVu; he was also the same person who started O3b. The Company O3b (other 3 billion) is the internet company which was started with the aim of serving internet to people who do not have access to internet at all.

Elon has already confirmed that he is working with SpaceX in forming satellites and they are expecting to make official announcement in the next couple of months. However, there was no confirmation given that WorldVu is working with SpaceX. According to the WSJ reports, both WorldVu and SpaceX are working on the same concept of launching 700 satellites. Each of these satellites will be weighing around 113 kg (250 pounds) and fair into a low altitude orbit of about 800-965km (500-600 miles). Apart from the weight and size, there are no other technical details available about the satellites.

WorldVu:

WorldVu has been able to acquire a license from SkyBridge called Ku-band, which is a completely failed internet enterprise. The satellites are being targeted to be placed in 20 orbits with the aim of providing consistent internet all around the world. At present no information has been given out on the speed and the cost of the availing the internet. According to Elon, the internet will be provided at very low cost but very much comparable to the current internet access provided by the expensive satellites.

Satellite Internet Access:

It has been observed that the internet access from satellites is not only expensive but also very unreliable and slow. This can be attributed to the high cost of satellite building and launch the satellites. Historically launching a single satellite in space costs around $ 50 Million and WorldVu is planning to launch 700, but due to their association with Ku-band, the prices will be low.

If WorldVu and SpaceX are able to provide the cheapest internet access to people around the world, then it will become history. People residing in rural areas and countries can easily signup with these companies and get access to the largest internet service providers.

Tuesday, 29 October 2013

Internet is a network connecting millions of computers globally. More than 100 countries are linked into news, opinions and exchange of datas. Actually no one owns the Internet and it’s not a single person or organization that controls the Internet in its entirety. An efficient Internet connection is a vital component of our daily life. Weak connections and slow speeds can be frustrating. Keeping your internet connectivity speed is more important. Here are some steps of about how to increase Internet speed and maximize the performance of your web-connected devices.

Resetting of home network

Sometimes a simple reset of your modem can increase your Internet speed. You may also turn your router off and on to see if that's helpful.

Clean your connections

Dirt is the enemy. Regularly check all modem and router cables to ensure solid and clean connections. Dirty, dusty, or loose cables leading from your cable or computer or router may cause significant reductions in your internet speed. Get compressed air from your local computer store, and use it to blow away the dirt and dust in the connectors. Maintain proper ventilation around all electrical components to avoid overheating.

Use of multiple devices should be avoided

Turn off smart phones, tablets, set-top boxes, Smart TVs or other devices that you aren't currently using and see whether your Internet speed increases.

Clearing of cache, cookies and browser histories

You may do this process once in a month to maintain optimum speed.

Internet Explorer: see for the Tools menu and select Delete Browsing History. Check the boxes for browser history, cookies, browser history and Temporary Internet Files.

Firefox: Select "Clear Recent History" from Tools menu. If your version has a "Time Range to Clear" option and select "Everything."

Google Chrome: Enter "[chrome: //settings/clearBrowserData]" in the browser bar. Select all the items that you want to clear. On the "Obliterate the following items from" drop-down menu, select “beginning of time." Click "Clear Browsing Data.”

Scanning of system

Sometimes it is viruses, spyware or malware that slows down your Internet connection. Close all applications that are active and run your anti-virus program. You can also try a registry cleaner program to increases your Internet speed. To prevent future infections, take time to shut down your computer every day and Turn on automatic security updates for all of your programs.

Removing unnecessary programs

Remove all unnecessary programs from your computer that might be using up bandwidth as they run in the background. On Windows machines, use the Add or Remove Programs feature from Control Panel to remove any programs which you don’t use regularly. You can also use the Task Manager by "Ctrl+Alt+Delete" to see if any programs are running in the background which you do not want.

Change of Wi-Fi channel
If many people are using the same channel in your building, then there would be a major slowdown in your Internet speed. If you see a more channels, then switch channels to increase Internet speed.

Up gradation of your modem or router:

Upgrading your modem to a newer or advanced version will increase your internet speed.

Using Ethernet instead of Wi-Fi

A hardwired connection will always be faster than a wireless connection. Purchase cables that are rated specifically for your desired purpose, and replace cables whenever necessary.